Wall construction and wall construction material



Dec. 3, 1940. H. ERNSTOFF WALL CONSTRUCTION AND WALL CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL Filed Nov. 1, 1939 attorney Patented Dec. 3, 1940 PATENT OFFICE WALL CONSTRUCTION AND WALL CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL Harry Ernstoff, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application November 1, 1939,"Seria1 No. 302,270 I 6 Claims.

V 5 the wall facings.

The use of glass panels on inner or exterior walls of buildings involves considerable danger in that when said panels are not properly secured to the wall and become detached they are likely to cause serious damage and personal injury. One object of the present invention is to obviate this danger.

Another object of the invention is to provide a glass panel or the like with means to facilitate the securement thereof to buildingrwalls.

A further object of the invention is to provide a glass panel with means which, in the event that the panel cracks or breaks, will hold the cracked or'broken parts in place so that they 20 will not become detached from the wall and drop or fall off.

Another object is to provide glass panels or the like with companion backing members of sheet material so that said panels and com- 25 pam'on backing members can be assembled in fixed relation at the shop and thereafter transported to the building for mounting on the walls thereof, thus reducing to a minimum the work required to be done at the job in securing 80 the panels in place on the wall.

Another object is generally to provide improved wall construction materials of the character described and an improved method of attaching glass panels or the like to building walls.

'85 The above objects of the invention and other objects which might hereinafter appear will be more fully understood from the following description considered in connection with the accompanying drawing.

4o In-the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front view in elevation of part of a building wall and showing several glass panels attached thereto in accordance'with the present invention;

45 Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a sheet metal backing member for a glass panel;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a glass panel 50 mountedon a companion backing member;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing a glass panel composed of a plurality of sections. Referring now to the drawing in detail, a plurality of panels [0 of glass or the like are 65 shown secured in position on a building wall, a

Section of which is indicated at I2, the material of the wall being wood or any other suitable or conventional wall material. The size of the panels it] may vary but, for purposes of explanation of the invention, the size thereof are of the order of 30 x 30". Said glass panels are of substantial thickness, say a thickness of about 1 5". Said panels l0 usually consist of opaque glass,'for example, black glass, but may be cornposed of non-pigmented glass having a paint or other coating composition applied on the rear surfaces of the panels whereby said panels may have any desired color. The wall facing constituted by the glass panels may be on the interior or on the exterior walls of the building and are particularly useful as the facings of the exterior walls of stores or for the facings of the parts of such walls above the store windows to form an attractive background for advertising signs.

Each glass panel is provided with an individual backing member of sheet material, preferably thin'sheet metal to which the glass panel is secured by an adhesive such as mastic cement applied over the entire back surface of the glass panel or otherwise interposed as a continuous layer between said surface and the contiguous surface of the companion backing member. Thus, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the glass panels H) are shown mounted on metal backing members 14 and I6 and attached to said members by a layer of mastic cement i8 interposed between said panels and the contiguous sur-. faces of the companion backing members. Said masticfcement is preferably applied over the entiresurface of each glass panel l0 whereby all parts of the glass panels are firmly adhered to their companion backing members so that not only are the panels III securely fixed as units to their companion backing members but also so that in the event that the glass panel cracks or breaks the cracked or broken parts will be held in place and prevented from falling or dropping from the building wall.

The backing members l4 and I6 are secured to the building wall l2 by suitable fastening means such as nails or screws 20 passing through extensions 22 and 24 on panel l4 and extensions 26 and 28 on panel l6. Said extensions may be provided with apertures for the passage of the nails or screws therethrough. The backing members are also provided with parts bent up from the body portions at right angles thereto for engagement with the side edges of the companion glass panels in order to more effectively hold the glass panels in position and to prevent the weight of the upper panels from being transmitted to the lower panels. Thus, for example, member 14 is provided for this purpose with bent up parts 30 and 32 which engage the upper and lower edges, respectively, of a companion panel it]. As clearly shown in Fig. 4, backing member l6 has similar upper and lower panel-edge engaging parts 34 and 3%. It will be observed that the glass panels provided with backing members I4 are positioned above the panels provided with the backing member l6 and that backing members l4 and It are designed to interfit with each other so that the glass panels when assembled on the wall will lie adjacent each other with their adjacent edges in as close relation as possible. For this purpose panel-edge engaging parts 34 of backing member l6 are spaced sufficiently apart to permit panel-edge engaging part 32 of backing member M to be received between the confronting edges of the spaced parts 34 of backing member It. It will be noted also that backing members M are provided with extensions 38 which are disposed under and are overlapped by portions of adjacent backing members l6, the extensions 26 of said last mentioned backing member being positioned between the confronting edges of extensions 38 of an adjacent backing member l4. Said backing members I4 and it are also provided with lateral extensions 40 and 42, respectively, which are positioned under and are overlapped by the extensions 2 and 28, respectively, of adjacent backing members l4 and I6, respectively. Thus, as illustrated in Fig. 1, the lateral extension Q2 of a backing member I 6 is positioned under the lateral extension 28, which projects from the adjacent backing member l6, between the fastening nails or screws 20. Backing members i4 and It are provided with cut out portions ml and 46, respectively, to receive projecting portions 2-3 and .38, respectively, of other adjacent backing members M and i5, respectively, so that said backing members can be positioned in intertting relation at adjacent side edges thereof, thereby to permit adjacent glass panels to'lie close to each other. It will be understood that in assembling the several backing members the projecting portions which are intended to be overlapped or to interfit can, when necessary, be bent out of the plane of the body portion of their respective backing members. For this purpose, the material of said backing members is preferably thin and bendable, thin sheet metal being preferred.

By reason of the above described construction of the panels l6 and their companion backing members l4 and i6, the individual panels can be mounted on and secured to their companion backing members at the factory in condition to be mounted on the building wall by the building workers, thereby facilitating the construction of the building wall and reducing to a minimum the work required to be done at the job for securing the panels in place on the wall. However, it is within the scope of the presentinvention to supply the glass panels and backing members separately at the job to the building workers who can assemble the glass panel with the backing members for securing the same to the building wall. In the latter case, the metal backing members can be first secured to the building wall and thereafter the glass panels can be placed in position in their companion backing members being secured thereto by the interposed layers of mastic cement; j j

In Fig. 5 the glass panel mounted on the com pani'on backing member l4 comprises a plurality of sections Ina arranged with their edges in abutting relation and substantially concealing the backing member on which said sections are mounted. It will be understood that the sections Illa. of the panel can be smaller or larger vents the broken or cracked parts from falling off- Said backing members are entirely concealed by the glass panels. As will be readily understood I the slight spaces between adjacent glass panels can be filled with any suitable filling material. The metal backing members to which the glass panels are firmly'adhered provide means for securely fastening the glass panels to the wall,- as the backing members can, as hereinbefore described, be fastened securely in position by nails or screws. Moreover, each glass panel is indi vidually supported onthe wall by its companion metal backing member so that the weight of the panels is not transmitted to the panels therebelow. Another advantage derived'from the present' construction resides in the elimination of the condensation of moisture at the'back of the glass panels, as there, is no space inqwhich -,moisture can collect. Also it will be understood that the inventioncan be utilizedjfo'r panelsof various sizes and shapes. I WhileI have shown and described the invention in considerable detail, it will be understood that the invention is susceptible of other embodie ments and that in the forms of the invention herein shown or described, certainchanges may be made and will occur to skilled artisans particularly in view of the present disclosure. fore, I'do not wish to be limited specifically to the forms or constructions herein shown or described,

except, as may be required by the scope of the appended claims.

There- 1 Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Wall construction material comprising a thin sheet-metal backing member adapted to be secured to a building wall, a glass panel mounted on and overlying said backing memben -said backing member having forwardly projecting portions engaging the upper and lower edges of said glass panel, and a layer of adhesive interposed betwveen said sheet-metal member and said glass panel substantially throughout the contiguous surfaces of said panel and said member for securing said 'panelto, said sheet-metal backing member, said backing member having a portion extending outwardly beyond an adjacent edge of said panel for securing said backing member to the building wall.

2. Wall construction material comprising a thin sheet-metal backing member adapted to be, secured to a building wall, a glass panel mounted portion engaging the lower edge of the glass 75 panel, and a portion extending outwardly of a side edge of said panel for securing said backing member to the wall.

3. Wall construction material comprising a thin sheet-metal backing member adapted to be secured to a building wall, a glass panel mounted on and overlying said backing member, and a layer of adhesive interposed between said sheetmetal member and said glass panel substantially throughout the contiguous surfaces of said panel and said member for securing said panel to said sheet-metal backing member, said backing member having a portion bent up from the plane of the sheet and engaging the lower edge of the glass panel, and a portion extending outwardly of a side edge of said panel for securing said backing member to the wall.

4. Wall construction material comprising a thin sheet-metal backing member adapted to be secured to a building wall, a glass panel mounted on and overlying said backing member, and a layer of mastic cement interposed between said sheet-metal member and said glass panel substantially throughout the contiguous surfaces of said panel and said member for securing said panel to said sheet-metal backing member, said backing member having at least one part thereof extending outwardly beyond a side edge of said glass panel for securing said backing member to the wall, said backing member having a for- I wardly projecting portion engaging the lower edge of the glass panel, said glass panel comprising a plurality of sections.

5. In a wall construction, a plurality of thin sheet-metal backing members secured in position on the wall, each backing member having a glass panel mounted thereon and overlying the same, said backing members having forwardly projecting portions engaging the lower edges of panels mounted thereon, respectively, said glass panels being disposed adjacent each other with their adjacent edges in close relation, and adhesive securing means interposed between companion panels and backing members, said glass panels substantially concealing said backing members, and said backing members having overlapping parts for aiding in the securement of said members directly to said wall.

6. In a, wall construction, a plurality of thin sheet-metal backing members mounted on the wall, each backing member having a glass panel mounted thereon and overlying the same, said glass panels being disposed adjacent each other with their adjacent edges in close relation, said backing members having forwardly projecting parts engaging the lower edges of companion panels and forwardly projecting portions engaging the upper edges of companion panels, adhesive securing means interposed between companion panels and backing members, said glass panels substantially concealing said backing members and tabs projecting from said backing members, respectively, beyond the outer edges of said companion glass panels, respectively, for securing said backing members to said wall.

HARRY ERNS I'OFF. 

